Many Americans spend countless hours maintaining and caring for their lawns, flower beds, gardens, trees, and bushes in the yards around their homes. As a matter of pride and personal expression, these people care for their yards by cultivating the soil, removing weeds, apply fertilizer and pesticides, watering, and the like. One (1) additional task many of us are forced to do is that of trimming bushes, shrubs and trees at least once a year. While electric and gasoline powered trimmers allow us to make quick work of the actual trimming process, the cleanup process afterwards occupies most of the time. Even after a thorough raking or a vacuuming with a yard vacuum, many clippings remain behind detracting from the overall appearance. In the case of a professional landscaper, this extra time and effort can translate into lost revenue.
The use of various types and designs of lawn nets, leaf bags, and other devices for collecting trimmings and other lawn debris have attempted to solve these problems. Examples of these solutions can be seen by reference in several U.S. Patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,664, issued in the name of Hullen, discloses a method and apparatus for collecting lawn debris including flat pieces of netting placed on the ground to catch leaves as they fall from nearby trees. U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,462, issued in the name of Hensley, discloses a lawn net for capturing and retaining lawn debris which may be positioned upon a lawn for collecting debris without harming the lawn. U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,423, issued in the name of Haley, discloses a composting and leaf collection kit for removing fallen leaves and other yard waste.
While these devices may accomplish their specific intended purpose, each suffers from one (1) or more disadvantage or deficiency with respect to design, function, or effectiveness. In particular, the previous solutions typically are cumbersome and difficult in regards to transporting the collected lawn debris or trimmings. Additionally, these solutions do not allow the user to position the collecting device next to and around a trunk or stem of the tree or shrub which is being trimmed, leaving large open areas of the lawn surface for debris to collect.
Accordingly, there is a need for a means by which clippings from trees, shrubs, and bushes can be caught and disposed of in a quick manner without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.